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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23925853">Under the Weather</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stelia22/pseuds/Stelia22'>Stelia22</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Firewatch AU (sort of), Alternate Universe - Lighthouse, Alternate Universe - Spies &amp; Secret Agents, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:23:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23925853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stelia22/pseuds/Stelia22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Various fic ideas for future exploration.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Gavin Free/Jack Pattillo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. College AU (Jackvin)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have a lot of ideas and no idea how to actually write them. So I'm putting them here in hopes that one day I will write them for real. This will be semi-rambly, semi-fic planning. Open to suggestions.</p><p>Or: Months ago, missingnowrites suggested that I write down all the Jackvin ideas I had when I mentioned in a comment that I hadn't been able to finish a Jackvin fic despite starting quite a while ago.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u">Idea:</span> Jack and Gavin as film students at uni forced to work together for a partner project. Thing is, Jack is a dreaded mature aged student, and will probably be like all the other arrogant uptight buzzkill ones that Gavin (a sophomore/junior) has worked with in the past. But as they work together, the more Gavin learns that Jack is nothing like he thought, and soon enough he starts falling in love. Enemies to friends to lovers.</p><p>
  <span class="u">Inspirations:</span>
</p>
<ol>
<li>Ten Steps to Falling in Love by whalehuntingboyfriends (Mavin college AU). Originally, I thought of making Jack and Gavin similar ages, but there's such a large discrepency in mentality (i.e. old soul vs youthful soul) that it probably wouldn't work in a College AU. Hence, mature age student and sophomore.</li>
<li>Gavin being a slow-motion cinematographer, Jack going to film school, both of them watching Corridor Crew's film technique critique on YouTube (mentioned on Off Topic) and Jack being the only one to mention the Slow-Mo-Guys on even a semi-regular basis.</li>
</ol><p>
  <span class="u">Issues/Open to Suggestions:</span>
  <span class="u"></span>
</p>
<ul>
<li>I have not been to university for a film degree before, so I do not know what types of projects are involved (let alone partner projects). I was considering a short film of about 5 mins centred around a specific theme, but I assume that requires four or more people? I would be looking for a major partner project that would involve having to collaborate creatively to complete - something that would produce potential for conflict. Any ideas would be great.</li>
</ul><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u">Story?:</span>
</p><p>Gavin doesn't know anyone in his cinematography class - all his friends went for digital media/IT/writing/art/animation/theatre, and he's really regretting not picking digital media right now because he's late to class (tutorial) and the last seat is next to this ginger bearded older guy (there's <em>grey </em>in his beard, Christ). Definitely a mature aged student, then.</p><p>Thing is, Gavin doesn't hate older people. People going back to uni when they're older - awesome, good on them, education, good shit. Just. mature aged students are a special kind of hell, especially in group projects. And considering this is cinematography, collaborative anything is the name of the game.</p><p>He's just slumped into his chair when the tutor tells them to pair up with people.</p><p>For a partner project.</p><p>Fuck.</p><p>There's someone else next to Gavin, someone who actually looks like they were born this century, but as Gavin turns to them they've already turned to their friend next to them and paired up, so that's out. Everyone's quickly pairing off, and Gavin thinks of standing up and just wandering around the room in hopes of finding someone because if he's stuck with one more mature aged student -</p><p>"Hey, do you want to work together?"</p><p>Gavin jumps because Ryan's not even in this class. But he looks over and it's the ginger bearded guy, who has a deep voice, apparrently. And <em>Christ</em>, of course this group project bullshit this is happening all over again.</p><p>Gavin sneaks one last look around the room, and sure enough everyon'es already paired off, chattering away with their partners because they were smart enough to have friends in this course.</p><p>"Fine, sure, whatever."</p><p>"What the - OK?" the guy splutters like he was about to protest, but then reigned it in. After a moment, he says, " 'Hi, I'm Jack, nice to meet you.' " There's bite to it and that surprises Gavin more than anything, because honestly?</p><p>This guy looks like the most placid version of a lumberjack Santa to ever exist.</p><p>And the thing is, Gavin didn't mean to be so rude. It's just.</p><p>Groups projects with mature age students always descend into them bragging about all the <em>experience</em> they have, all the extra work they did, throwing around industry lingo and key buzzwords to make themselves seem smart. They’re completely dismissive of Gavin and his input, never trusting him with anything, always thinking they know better because they filmed a couple of amateur projects all by themselves last summer. They’re smug, uptight, condescending buzzkills and Gavin hates group projects with them more than anything.</p><p>Jack looks like every one of those people.</p><p>"You sound like my friend," Gavin says, because he's always been good at putting his foot in his mouth. He waves a hand at Jack's face. "All deep voice and shit."</p><p>The tutor says something about making sure they have their partner's email so that they can work on the project, the usual spiel about how if you don't like your partner you can complain that the higher-ups never actually look at, and the even more usual spiel about how they can't just fodder off the time. Oh, Gavin's not going to have a problem with that, that's for sure. Can't fodder off if your partner is the my-way-or-the-highway type.</p><p>Jack's still staring at him but he raises his eyebrows. Gavin blinks at him, then splutters, having finally realised that Jack's waiting for him to introduce himself.</p><p>"I'm Gavin," he says. "Email's fine, by the way." He tears off a corner from a page in his brand new exercise book - which earns another questioning look - before writing it down. If Gavin liked the person he was working with, text would be preferable, but email is more professional and, technically speaking, better evidence when filing a complaint.</p><p>They exchange emails, and Gavin tunes out the irrelevant tangent the tutor has gone on. The project is to (???).</p><p>It's worth <em>half </em>of his final mark. And it's with someone who will probably fuck him over (made worse because he seems perfectly nice now, but it's always the nice ones that turn out the worst, isn't it?)</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span class="u">Progression:</span>
</p><p>They work in Jack's apartment just off-campus because this is a big project and they both have busy schedules since filming projects for other classes take a long time. Fine by Gavin to work in Jack's place - he sure as hell isn't going to let anyone into his dorm room.</p><p>When Gavin first gets there he hears thuds and stuff from behind Jack's door and assumes that he has someone <em>over </em>(wouldn't be the first time a "teammate" has done something like that). But it turns out that Jack was just banging his controller in frustration because he missed that jump on an extreme level in Trials Rising <em>again</em>.</p><p>At first they end up bonding because Gavin finds out that Jack plays video games, but then there are other things. How Jack has his own ideas but actually asks for Gavin's opinion. How he seems to listen - <em>actually</em> listens, in fact. Talks things out, brainstorms ideas, isn't afraid to point out potential issues with Gavin's ideas (practicality, time restraints, marking criteria constraints, etc.) but doesn't do so in a condescending way. His vibe is really relaxing, shockingly, and all too soon Gavin finds himself lulled into that deep voice as they sit at Jack's dining table talking about ideas. Oh, and Jack is super detail oriented, knows things that no other teammate of Gavin's ever has. Jack is definitely overly serious, but it's not as stifling as it could be, however reluctantly Gavin is to admit it. Only pro of that is that he is a consummate professional, no funny business, just down to business. It feels very efficient, shockingly.</p><p>This continues throughout the project. They get to shooting test clips much quicker than expected, all that. Jack doesn't seem to have any friends at all, either. Definitely not a signficant other, though why Gavin notes that even he doesn't know. At some point, Jack laughs, and it's this big joyous laugh, surprisingly high pitched, and Gavin makes it a mission to coax it out of him as much as possible.</p><p>It's easier than he thought; there's a surprising goofiness to Jack underneath all that seriousness. Doesn't make it any less rewarding.</p><p>They bicker and argue, of course, but they both work things out and manage to come to compromises they're both happy with.</p><p>Gavin eventually realises that they're both serious, consummate professionals behidn the camera, and <em>passionate</em>. Jack is so uptight because he's passionate. That causes Gavin to look at Jack in a new light because if there's anything he understands, it's being obsessed with the finer details of cinematography.</p><p>They eventually realise that they both watch Corridor Crew, not sure how to incorporate that. But somehow they end up spending hours not getting work done (Jack's stressed and Gavin's feeling lazy and once they actually start working together things go well, plus they end up just liking to hang out in general because nobody else will listen or care about their film nerdiness) and just nerding out over films, animation, cinematography. Seriously, Jack notices hidden microphones the way Gavin's able to notice hidden cameras. It's great.</p><p> </p><p>Throughout it all Gavin is waiting for the other shoe to drop, for Jack to morph into an arrogant, dismissive asshole, waits for him to brag about all the extra work he did. But he never does. One time, Jack talks about stuff he's worked on before, and Gavin's like whelp here we go, but instead Jack speaks about the project with reverence, about how admirable all the people on set were, what each of them brought to the table, and the skillsets each person had that he picked up. Talks about going to lunch with them and learning how they learnt their techniques. Seems to have somehow gotten away with being genuinely nice and it's paying dividends. How each of those have influenced how he sees things, sees this project. Is all rambly about it too, in a very Geoff-like way. This light in his eyes that's honestly quite beautiful as they work together at Jack's dining table as the sun sets outside the kitchen window. (Wait, beautiful? Shit!)</p><p> </p><p>Their project goes well. Somehow they end up getting together through pining and mutual misunderstandings and it's overall a rom-com kind of situation. And Jack is an asshole, by the way. Just a cuddly-teddy-bear asshole whose head over heels for Gavin. And vice versa.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Lighthouse AU version 1 (Jackvin)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>AU where Jack and Gavin are volunteer lighthouse keepers and caretakers on a remote island for six months.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u">Idea:</span> Have you ever wanted to escape the stresses of modern life? Jack has. That's why he takes a six month post as one of two lighthouse keepers and island caretakers on Maatsuyker Island, a remote island 3.4 miles off the south coast of Tasmania. Normally the two lighthouse keepers have a pre-established relationship as proof that they can survive and work together in isolated conditions, but Jack doesn't know his fellow lighthouse keeper, Gavin. Isolated from civilisation, their job is to maintain the lighthouse, take weather observations and maintain the island (lots of drain cleaning and mowing lawns). Simple, peaceful and quiet. Feelings spark under the pouring rain amongst six months alone with nature and each other, dependent on the other for company and survival.</p><p>
  <span class="u">Inspirations:</span>
</p>
<ol>
<li>Firewatch AUs for AH, which are based on the video game Firewatch. I love Firewatch and the way relationships accelerate when you're isolated from society with only each other for company, harmonised to the soothing background of nature and all it has to offer. I have played Firewatch the game, but watched AH's Lets Watch of it and read some Firewatch AUs long before I played it myself. The limitations of walkie-talkies add a nice touch but unfortunately won't work for the Lighthouse AU as the concept instead is that a fellow keeper's company is both too much and too little at the same time, and that if you have a fight you have to get over it quickly because they'll be making you dinner tonight.</li>
<li>Desire to set a story specifically in Australia but still have that solace-from-modern-life feel.</li>
</ol><p>
  <span class="u">Issues/Open to Suggestions:</span>
  <span class="u"></span>
</p>
<ul>
<li>What happens after they leave the island? If this was Jack/Geoff or even Ryan/Jack instead, it'd be interesting to have them take a long-term, permanent post on a different, similarly isolated island. But this is Jack/Gavin, and my headcanon is that Gavin wouldn't be happy with this kind of life permanently. I was thinking of them going back to their normal lives (Gavin in England, Jack in Austin), then Gavin eventually getting hired by Roosterteeth, and Jack eventually getting hired by Roosterteeth as well (Jack having applied for it based on stuff Gavin had said to him on the island) and they meet again. Then Gavin would help Jack acclimate to Achievement Hunter and everything like that, and everyone would be surprised at how Gavin wasn't scared of a new hire. And everything would be good. Idk.</li>
</ul><p> </p><p><span class="u">Progression</span> (own imagination)</p>
<ul>
<li>

<p>Jack is lonely, bogged down in the stresses of modern life and a dead end job. Doesn't know where he's going in life, but he misses nature, misses the quiet, simple life. Misses being able to wonder, being able to have an imagination, as he has lost it amongst the autonomy of the dead end job. Jack is an Austin native through and through, loves sunny weather, but he is literally so lonely that he’s willing to deal with shit windy weather and a ton of rain to get away from everyone and everything, except for one other random person, the one who would be working with him on the island here.</p>
</li>
<li>Gavin is also lonely, is stuck in a rut in the slow motion work he does for TV shows/films/whatever and/or is overworked enough that he's willing to be battered by beastial winds and pouring rain to escape it, despite hating both while living in England.</li>
<li>Scenes would be day-in-the-life scenes of them working together, and them falling for each other during this work (e.g. cooking together, cleaning pipes together, taking weather observations together while clutching steaming thermoses of hot chocolate/tea - talking about life with each other). At first Jack would think that Gavin has no business being here; he's scrawny, hesitates over or has little experience in physical labour or repairwork and seems to have a lot going for him outside of this (not like Jack with his dead-end office job that he hates). But gradually he picks up that Gavin is a quick learner and, with Jack's guidance, becomes much more confident with repairs/cleaning etc. They both love nature, and they end up heading out during the rare sunny days after work to watch the birds and film things.</li>
</ul><p> </p><p><span class="u">Progression</span> (source: articles on the internet)</p>
<ul>
<li>Lighthouses have an air of mystery and awe, guiding boats back to the shore. All lighthouses these days are automated, but back in the 1800s, lighthouse keepers worked tirelessly to maintain their lights so that boats could find them and come back to shore. There's romantic notions about the lives of lighthouse keepers, of watching the sea, of meticulous daily care of the light, of finding things to do from nothing, of brave and daring rescues of sailors lost at sea. With the invention of radios and the automation of the lights, lighthouse keepers are mostly redundant (Maatsuyker Island's lighthouse became automated in 1996, the last of Australia's lighthouses to do so).</li>
<li>Maatsuyker Island is isolated enough, and requires weather observations to be taken from there, that volunteer lighthouse keepers/island caretakers are stationed on there in six-month blocks, two keepers at a time. They have to bring everything they need to survive for six months: food, tools, medicine, bedding, clothes, entertainment (can bring laptops/cameras) - everything. There's only one resupply 3 months in, mostly mail. Limited internet, limited landline/mobile, no TV. The weather is brutal, with rain 250 days of the year and winds over 100km/hr for weeks at a time that are harsh enough to knock a person over sometimes. Island maintenence is constant: mould on buildings needs to be removed constantly, the island-spanning grasses mowed once every other week, buildings repainted frequently. But the rare sunny day, the vast variety of native wildlife and the possible sightings of the Aurora Australias are apparrently soul-healing. Weather observations need to be taken twice daily for the Bureau of Meterology, the first at 6am. There's lots of time for creative endeavours such as painting and creating artwork from scraps. A past keeper even made a picture book based on their experience on Maatsuyker Island.</li>
<li>

<p>Realism of the story is questionable, as IRL, applicants for Maatsuyker Island caretakers must be in an established relationship (couples, best friends, siblings) as part of proving they can work together. Won't be doing that for this story, as I'm aiming for the vibe of Firewatch but with lighthouses instead. But back in the day (1800s) you couldn't choose your fellow keepers. You had to live with your fellow keepers and their families, whoever they were; much like how you can’t choose who your fellow fire lookouts are in Firewatch. That's what I'm interested in. However, keepers in established relationships deal with completely different issues, which might be interesting to explore elsewhere (though I wouldn’t know how).</p>
</li>
</ul>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Detective!Jack/Hacker!Gavin AU (Jackvin)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u">Idea:</span> Disillusioned detective Jack Pattillo has finally captured the elusive hacker and assassin known as the Golden Boy, who has one request: that he take Jack out for a night in Austin before he has to turn him in, in the morning.</p><p>
  <span class="u">Inspirations:</span>
</p><ol>
<li>An unused idea for the <a href="#section0001">College AU (Jackvin)</a> that I am currently writing, of a spy having to turn in a traitor in the morning but in the meantime, the traitor gives the spy a tour of the city, to show them the beauty in the mundane.</li>
<li>Q and Margo's night of mischief in the movie Paper Towns (since I haven't read the book). I was fascinated by the unique camaraderie people have in those situations, even when they're (basically) strangers (like Q and Margo are at the time).</li>
</ol><p>
  <span class="u">Issues:</span>
</p><ul>
<li>This is mostly dialogue, and I'm unsure if the dialogue is in-character for either of them. I am open to feedback.</li>
</ul><p>
  <span class="u">Extract 1:</span>
</p><p>Rain pattering outside. Hands in the air.</p><p>“I’ll go with you, I promise,” the Golden Boy says. “Just let me give you a tour.”</p><p>“A tour?”</p><p>“Of the town. Austin. A night out, just the two of us. I promise I won’t sabotage the car or run away from you. I’ll even keep the handcuffs on. You can drive. I’ll direct you.”</p><p>“How do you know I won’t drive you to the station right now.”</p><p>“Because you would have done it already, <em>officer</em>.” the Golden Boy side-eyes Jack's shirt, even as Jack freezes. “Because if we went, we’d be the only ones there, so why not spend it having some fun? And if we went to the station, you’d have to get food at some point, which means you’d either have to leave me unsupervised – bad idea – or you’d have to bring me with you, which would be the same as what I’m suggesting but way less fun. So how about it?”</p><p>Some context.</p><p>(Jack's not wearing an officer shirt, hadn't had a chance to pick it up yet -</p><p>He's been hunting - no, <em>searching for </em>- the elusive hacker for months -</p><p>Now the Golden Boy's turned up in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of a drug raid he has no part in -</p><p>Jack should have brought backup.)</p><p>“There’s no difference whether you bring me in now or in the morning, is what I’m saying,” the hacker adds, when Jack doesn't say anything. "Better than spending another night alone, yeah? Look, I’ll remove all my weapons.”</p><p>The hacker twists out of the handcuffs, then pulls out multiple knives, pistols – he eyes those with distaste – from inside his jacket and set them on the floor. He pulls another from his belt and a taser in his shoes. He pouts as the taser lands in a puddle and it fizzles out.</p><p>Jack considers him. The Golden Boy has been a thorn in his side for months, changing all sorts of files and meddling with the police, but always did so behind lines of aliases and three layers of encryption. There's no logical reason for him to be offering this, for him to even be here in person. Which means he must have come out specifically for this, to contact Jack himself. He's a hacker, and the police don't have the best facilities, so he's pretty sure that Gavin came across him at some point.</p><p>Jack wants to know why he came out here in person.</p><p>"Fine," he says curtly, stepping up to put the handcuffs back onto Gavin.</p><p>“Kinky,” Gavin grins.</p><p>Jack doesn't react. Criminals love trying to get a rise out of him.</p><p>“Seasoned Detective, got it,” Gavin sighs. “Got it. You’re no fun, are you?”</p><p>He's used to that too, the accusation of being uptight. Better to let them think that. He's too tired to fight it anymore.</p><p>"It's Jack, yeah?"</p><p>"You can call me whatever you like," Jack says, because saying nothing would be worse.</p><p>"Call me Gavin, then."</p><p>Jack grabs him by the handcuff chain to make sure he stays in them, then drags him into the passenger seat of the car, then gets into the driver's seat. He put him there for closer observation, no other reason.</p><p>Gavin wrinkles his nose. “Shitty car.”</p><p>“I could leave you on the street. I could kick you out, right now,” Jack says, through barely tamped down irritation and steel.</p><p>“You won’t, though.” Gavin says, so smug and confident that Jack wants to kick him out just to prove he’s not a complete pushover. Something must have slipped through because Gavin’s eyes momentarily widen like a beast at a feast. “You need the company. And you’re not the kind of let sleeping dogs lie."</p><p>Jack's hands clench on the steering wheel, but he puts the car in the right gear and pulls them out onto the street.</p><p>A few minutes go by without either of them saying anything. Jack makes some random turns, because why not?</p><p>“You’re not gonna ask me where we’re going?” Gavin says.</p><p>“You gonna tell me?” Jack says.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Exactly.”</p><p>“You don’t care if I tell you turn like right now!” Gavin says right they drive by a street.</p><p>Jack does a very impressive, smooth turn. Gavin’s eyes widen hungrily. Yes, Jack is a skilled driver.</p><p>“Well?” Jack grins.</p><p>“I’m impressed.”</p><p>"You have to know when to stay, and when to pull the plug." Jack doesn't know why he's telling the Golden Boy, stranger and criminal, this.</p><p>(Maybe because most people don't grin at him like he's making them fly the way Gavin is grinning at him right now.)</p><hr/><p>
  <span class="u">Extract 2:</span>
</p><p>In the car, Gavin slumps in the seat and throws his feet up onto the dashboard.</p><p>“Get your feet off of there,” Jack swipes at his feet. Gavin pouts but lets them drop. He sits up in his seat and bumps his knees against the glove compartment. Things rattle in it. Out of the corner of his eye, Gavin sees Jack’s hands clench on the steering wheel.</p><p>Oh. That’s interesting.</p><p>Gavin plays with the glove compartment. Jokes that it’s called a glove compartment yet nobody puts gloves in there. Jack doesn’t take the bait.</p><p>“I’ll open this, you know.”</p><p>“If you know what’s good for you, you won’t.”</p><p>“Oh yeah?” Gavin fingers the latch. Jack swats his hand away. Gavin tries again. Swat. Again, and again.</p><p>And then –</p><p>Gavin pries it open before Jack can open it because he’s going around a bend. In there -</p><p>A glock. A pill bottle. Behind both, a fake ID card.</p><p>“You want out or something?” Gavin says lightly as he scoops up the fake ID card.</p><p>“I don’t want to talk about it.”</p><p>“You’re not FBI though, just a detective. Why would you need to have a fake ID? You could become a civilian in a second. You <em>wear </em>civilian; you don’t even have a uniform- or, you used to not have one, at least."</p><p>"I don't want to talk about it."</p><p>“Alright,” the hacker says easily, settling back into his seat. Jack glances over in surprise. The hacker is casually reclining in the passenger seat and yawns.</p><p>“What, don’t you want to know?” Jack asks, because he has to.</p><p>“Why would I? It doesn’t matter. I like to think that people are more than just their work histories.”</p><p>That's...odd. Work is usually the first thing people talk about. It's the one thing Jack knows he can talk about, even around all those non-disclosure agreements. But the way the hacker says <em>work histories </em>is so detached that it's jarring, and for the first time in a while Jack wonders what he has outside of work. Breakfast, go to work, lunch, more work, come home, dinner, drown in police procedural TV, bed and repeat.</p><p>Yeah, he doesn't really have much. The thought it like music ringing in his ears.</p><p>Suddenly, the very real music of YYZ by Rush bursts through the car.</p><p>"Rush?" Gavin says, and Jack's eyes widen after he glances over.</p><p>Gavin is scrolling through Jack's phone, open to Spotify, which had been <em>in his jeans pocket</em>, which means that Gavin had somehow pick-pocketed him through the seatbelt and denim fabric and Jack hadn't noticed.</p><p>"It's a good song," Jack says, more indignantly than he'd intended.</p><p>Gavin hums and starts opening other apps. Jack doesn't react.</p><p>"You're not worried about me going through your phone?"</p><p>"Would that stop you?"</p><p>"No."</p><p>"Then there you go." Jack figures that Gavin already knows everything anyway, given that he's, well, a <em>hacker</em>.</p><p>“I could be contacting anyone right now. I could be hacking your phone. I could be calling the cops on you. You’re technically giving a joyride to a criminal. Turn here," Gavin says, and Jack pulls up to a McDonalds. "I could have a liaison here, yet you turned without question anyway."</p><p>“If you did, you wouldn’t have asked me to join you for a night out.” Jack says. “Or tried to convince me to give you a ride. If you didn’t you wouldn’t be telling me. You would have done it already when you hacked into case files. You would have scheduled yourself to get arrest by other cops, not tried to convince me. You wouldn’t have come out at all. Too messy. Easier to do it behind three layers of encryption and voice modifiers. You (don’t have a liaison here). You like your freedom too much. I don’t think you’re here for a job. Too much effort. Prefer everything online, triple encrypted and behind aliases.”</p><p>“You don’t know, that could be the con. I could be expanding my contacts.”</p><p>“It’d be a good one. I’d give it to you if it was a con. But I don’t think that’s what you’re doing. You don’t like to go beyond what’s necessary. You don’t usually go expanding your contacts like this. You could be using this time to do other jobs. This would be a waste of time, for you."</p><p>“Or maybe that’s what I want you to think.”</p><p>Jack shrugs. “If it is, then so be it. What have I got? A gun, a fake ID, a snickers wrapper and a terrible car.”</p><p>A gun clicks. Barrel of a gun against Jack’s forehead. “Not anymore.”</p><p>Jack moves his eyes over. His face doesn’t change. And that’s intriguing, isn’t it? He just. Literally keeps driving.</p><p>“You were expecting this.”</p><p>“Shoot me, if you want.” Jack sighs. Pulls into the drive-through.</p><p>“How many people do you let into your car?” Gavin exclaims.</p><p><em>“Hi, what would you like to order?” </em>calls out the person running the drive-through.</p><p>“What do you want?”</p><p>“Seriously though. How many?” Gavin says at Jack’s raised eyebrows. “They got chicken nuggies?”</p><p>“Chicken nuggets, please, two dozen of them.” Jack turns back to the drive-through. “And a Big Mac and a large Coke.”</p><p>“<em>Thank you, please make your way through to pick-up window.</em>”</p><p>“Just you,” Jack answers as they drive through.</p><p>“No shit? No late night hook-ups, either. Or Coke, other than the one you're getting, of course.”</p><hr/><p>
  <span class="u">Extract 3:</span>
</p><p>A 24/7 Walmart or Target off the 183-South.</p><p>“Ooo, pillows!” Gavin flounces over to a stack of pillows. “We gotta get you pillows. Make your car real comfy.”</p><p>“I’m not in it much…”</p><p>Gavin pays with cash. “”It’s clean, don’t worry.” At Jack’s raised eyebrows, he adds, “You wouldn’t be able to trace it anyway.”</p><p>“(Jack Name drops a money launderer linked to Gavin that the department had caught recently).”</p><p>“Nice bloke. What happened to him?”</p><p>“Mowed down by cops while trying to get away.”</p><p>“Shame. You would have liked him. Both of you watched Baseketball, among other things.”</p><p>Again, hacker, so not too surprising that Gavin knows Jack's Netflix history.</p><hr/><p>
  <span class="u">Progression:</span>
</p><ul>
<li>Jack is a disillusioned detective who has obsessively hunted down illusive hacker (and assassin) the Golden Boy (Gavin) much to the chagrin of the rest of the department. He's become completely absorbed in his work, and Gavin - a criminal - is the one to show him that there's more to it than just the work, that he has to see the civilians when they're out of trouble to truly appreciate them.</li>
<li>Gavin is a hacker/assassin who only takes jobs behind three layers of encryption and a bunch of aliases. It allows him to live a comfortable life in a comfy house, but it's been hard earned, and he wouldn't think of challenging that for just any reason. The detective looking far too deeply into him starts off as a hunt for someone who could screw him over, but instead what emerges is a lonely, disillusioned detective, and soon enough Gavin is intrigued.</li>
<li>Gavin gets Jack to take him to all these places around Austin, and Jack tells him all about him, comes to life under the shining lights of the city, and Gavin tells him that <em>this </em>is who he is, not the overworked disillusioned detective, but the vibrant one who loves Austin more than anything, and that's what he needs to be doing this detective stuff for.</li>
</ul>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Right Girl AU (Jackvin)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><span class="u">Idea:</span> Jack has used lifestyle app BBest to get the perfect life. BBest, the app that fuses Alexa, Siri, Amazon, Tindr, fitness apps, hobby recommendations, career predictions, grocery shopping apps, one that gives birthday reminders, and tons of other lifestyle apps, and gives him three options with a probability chance of success (e.g. if you pick to go to work by bicycle you have a 74% chance of getting there in time vs 60% chance by car). But now it's impeding his ability to make decisions on his own, something he doesn't concern himself with until he runs into Gavin, a BBest sceptic who also has the app anyway.</p><p><span class="u">Summary:</span> Jack has the best life – a boyfriend out of his dreams and a floristry business going from strength to strength. All thanks to BBest, a lifestyle app that transformed Jack’s listless life in a dead-end job into something enjoyable. It knows him better than he knows himself, taking his likes, dislikes, skills and foibles, and gives him the best options so he doesn’t make mistakes anymore. Jack has never looked back – too bad that the app was only available in the app store for an hour before suddenly disappearing.</p><p>Enter Gavin, a photographer Jack hires to take pictures for his floristry, and the first person to be smarmy about BBest. Jack shouldn’t care; BBest has changed his life for the better, suggesting new things without being pushy, helping him make good decisions.</p><p>But if he has the boyfriend of his dreams, why doesn’t it feel exactly right? And why does Gavin, the one person he should hate, leave him breathless and unstitched? And all of a sudden Jack is left questioning his shiny, successful existence, and whether BBest really is helping him be his best or if it’s the cause of his doubts instead.</p><p>
  <span class="u">Inspirations:</span>
</p>
<ol>
<li>The Right Girl by Ellie O'Niell, a novel with the concept of BBest the lifestyle app. It does everything from career predictions to dating matching to financial management to grocery management. It basically takes over your life to the point where it's difficult to make your own decisions because BBest knows best, right? The protagonist of that story (Freya) goes from drifting through life as a failing waitress (think constantly tripping over while holding dishes) to successful florist with her own shop. I figured that Jack is into flowers too, so him being a florist isn't that big of a stretch. Freya has a boyfriend too, thanks for BBest's matchmaking service (93% chance success rate but it's not working well anyway), which is why this Jackvin version will have an OC boyfriend.</li>
</ol><p>
  <span class="u">Issues:</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li>In the novel, BBest is deeply engrained in everybody's lives (there's a friend of Freya's who avoids chips at a party because, "BBest said my salt intake was too high this week") but since I'm not following the exact plot of the story, not everyone will have the app. Which is fine; it's just that there is so much to the BBest app, and I'm very concerned that I won't be able to communicate how deeply engrained into BBest Jack is.</li>
</ul><p>
  <span class="u">Extract:</span>
</p><p><em>“You have ten minutes until the photographer arrives. You need to finish the floral display in the front window</em>,<em>” </em>the voice in Jack’s BBest app announces.</p><p>“Shit!”</p><p>Jack drops the bouquet he’d been preparing onto the counter, rushing over to the fridge and snatching the bouquet he’d cooled that morning, trying to find a pot for it.</p><p>There are two empty ones in the back behind a bunch of other pots: a white one with red stripes and a blue willow one. The bouquet has red, white and blue flowers in it so either would work. The red stripes would really pop, but they’re so thick that it might look tacky. But the blue willow pot might look old-fashioned and his flower store is more modern than antiques store.</p><p>He holds the bouquet over each of them, moving it back and forth between them, but from here he can’t tell which one would work better – or more importantly, would work at all.</p><p>“BBest, which pot should I use for this bouquet of flowers?”</p><p><em>“Can you describe what flowers are in the bouquet?”</em> his phone says.</p><p>“White jasmines, blue violets and red daisies.”</p><p>There’s a pause as the BBest app goes through the catalogue of pots Jack had painstakingly photographed when he had first started his store and had meticulously kept on top of.</p><p><em>“You should use: the red striped pot, at 74% chance of success,” </em>phone says, pulling up a picture of the red striped pot Jack had been looking over before.</p><p>Seventy-four percent. Not bad for two options. “Thanks, BBest,” Jack says, already manoeuvring his way around the other filled pots to get to the one he needed.</p><p>Lo and behold, the flowers look great in said pot. The colours in the bouquet are vibrant enough to off-set the intensity of the thick red stripes, and it’s for the front window anyway; it’s meant to be eye-catching. He puts the flowers in the window display then hurries around the store, clearing the counter and doing last-checks around the store.</p><p>Just as he finishes the final touches, the doorbell chimes.</p><p>“Hi, is this Jack’s Flowers?”</p><p>Jack looks up at that, because it’s not every day he hears a British accent, but the young man standing in front of him with a camera around his neck looks more like an Italian supermodel than a pasty English guy with dark hair.</p><p>This man is <em>tanned</em>, first of all. With thick brown hair stuck up in a million directions. And pretty green eyes that rival Jack’s. And a mat of chest hair peeking out from the top of his grey Henley t-shirt.</p><p>“Sorry, is this the wrong place? I swear I looked it up on B – I mean, Google Maps.”</p><p>“You’re in the right place,” Jack shakes himself, going up to him and sticking his hand out for him to shake, because he will <em>not </em>be unprofessional over a cute guy. From the camera around his neck, this must be the photographer – Gavin – from the online profiles. “I’m Jack.”</p><p>Gavin stares at Jack’s hand like it’s a Venus flytrap looking for dinner. “Wow, you run this place, huh?”</p><p>“Yeah, it’d be kind of odd to have it be called <em>Jack’s Flowers </em>if my name wasn’t Jack.”</p><p>“Could have been your middle name, or something.”</p><p>“Do people still go by their middle names, these days?”</p><p>“One of my friends does. Ryan, or James Ryan, I guess.”</p><p>“Huh.”</p><p>Then Jack abruptly remembers what they’re actually here for. “You’re the photographer, right? That I contacted through – ”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Gavin interjects. He starts looking around the store, and his eyes fall to the floral display in the front window. “I love this pot. All red and bold and stuff.”</p><p>“Thanks, it’s a real eye-catcher,” Jack grins, barely catching himself before he blurts out that BBest had chosen it. Not everyone had the app, after all.</p><p>“The rest of it’s well nice, too,” Gavin says, eyeing the wooden wall panels that doubled as display shelves behind the dark wood service counter, the matching standing shelves filled with flowers, and the plastic buckets of pre-made bouquets below them. Then he looks up. “You even have a – what is that? A flower chandelier?”</p><p>“Yeah, and thanks,” Jack grins at the assortment of hanging plants arranged into a chandelier. Another of BBest’s suggestions, and the display most customers commented on. That’d been a ninety percent chance of success, and it’s worth the pain of having to switch them out into the buckets every week for a new batch. “The flower chandelier is a favourite.”</p><p>“How about I start there, then, with the photos?” Gavin says. “If you have any other bouquets you’d like to take out, then that’d be great.”</p><p>“Oh, shit of course, I should have done that…” Jack mumbles, scurrying over to the standing shelves.</p><p>“No, it’s fine, I need to do lighting and camera tests anyway, figure out if I need to set up any key lights or whatever,” Gavin waves it off, or at least he sounds like he’s waving it off. Jack can never really tell, with these things. “You probably don’t want me rambling on about lighting, so…”</p><p>“I mean, I went to film school for a bit, so I’d be fine with hearing more.”</p><p>“Really?” Gavin asks, looking him up and down in the confused way most customers do when they’re trying to reconcile an older straight-laced guy like Jack and the perpetually hipster concept of film school.</p><p>“Yeah. Let me know if the reflections off the counters are too much, there’s some blinds I can close that should get rid of them.”</p><p><span class="u">Progression:</span> <span class="u"></span></p>
<ul>
<li>Gavin is hired as a photographer to shoot pictures for the website of Jack's flower shop. He has moved up from his garage fairly recently, but the getting the loan for it was helped by - you guessed it, BBest. Worked past his criminal history of being jailed a night for sleeping while drunk in his parked car and gotten him a high enough credit rating to get the loan to lease a physical shop.</li>
<li>Gavin looks at the photos before hesitating and moving on instead. Turns out that he looked at the photos and felt like the way the shop is decorated didn't really feel like <em>Jack</em>. Like he set up what BBest thinks is best, not what he personally thinks is best. So he comes back the following week. And somehow they have a mutual friend (Geoff?) and keep running into each other that way.</li>
<li>During their first meeting, Jack's phone says something, revealing that Jack has the BBest app. And Gavin's like, "You have BBest???" And Jack's like, yeah, what of it? And Gavin's all skeptic about it, don't you know it's a shitty app that stops people from making their own decisions, and then Gavin's phone says something - a reminder of his next photography shoot - revealing that he has the BBest app as well.</li>
<li>Jack's not happy about that, obviously, and says so.</li>
<li>But Gavin comes back the following week because he doesn't feel like the way the shop is decorated really represents Jack, and things keep going from there.</li>
<li>Jack has an OC boyfriend as well, matchmade by BBest, and Gavin straight up says that, "He's not right for you," which of course Jack isn't happy about either. But he can't stop thinking about it, even though <em>I'm 37 now, if not now, then when? </em>
</li>
</ul>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25795543">Filming into the Night</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stelia22/pseuds/Stelia22">Stelia22</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26568259">Maatsuyker (southern lights shining bright)</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stelia22/pseuds/Stelia22">Stelia22</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
</div></div></div>
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